Whatever happened to PGP? gives a quick look at PGP as an identity management (vs. privacy) technology. The core idea won’t be new to people who’re used to a signed update package from their favorite distribution’s security manager.

In the wake of all the “NSA walks into a telco, sticks a gleaming black box into a triple-locked closet, posts a goon at the door” stories, I’m guessing we’ll see a general uptick in interest in strong encryption. Not that it’ll do you any good: The name of the game isn’t so much knowing what you’re saying as it is knowing whom, exactly, you’re saying it to.

In other words, I’d be happy to share top-seekrit encrypted messages with you, but I’m saving my money for a DS Lite, and that’s kinda putting a crimp in my plans to TEMPEST shield my office. So fat lotta good it’s going to do either of us.